A Glimpse Into the Landscape of Social Sharing [Infographic]

As we showed in Gigya’s Social Login data from the third quarter of 2013, a number of social media websites have made strong plays to become the identity provider of record for consumers on the web. And while Facebook is still the dominant one, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn are making strides in the area.

In measuring social sharing -- shares from websites and applications to social networks -- however, Gigya’s data shows the rapid growth of another player: Pinterest.

The photo-sharing network, with over 70 million active users, has truly become a top sharing destination and made huge strides in industry verticals like ecommerce, where it has actually surpassed Facebook as the most shared network.

Facebook isn’t the only network that Pinterest has made gains on either. In North America, consumers actually shared to Pinterest more than Twitter during Q3 (29% compared to 24%, respectively).

While once derided as a niche network for bridal registries and home decoration ideas, Pinterest has become a mainstream sharing destination for a wide variety of visual content -- everything from recipes, to fashion, to sports photos, to lesson plans for teachers.

Notably, Pinterest has also taken some interesting steps to boost sharing from other websites and applications, most recently releasing APIs to allow users to more easily post content to the network and allowing users to embed Pinterest content in other sites in hopes of increasing overall engagement with the photo-sharing site.

Below, you'll find even more data from Q3 of last year, which measures shares to different social networks from the hundreds of thousands of sites and apps that leverage our Connected Consumer Management Suite:

What do you think of the data above? Do you really think Pinterest is becoming an increasingly viable option for brands to utilize in their social marketing?